The election has, however, made a good deal impossible and so the choice between “no deal” and a “bad deal” now looks inevitable. Unfortunately, the election has also now ensured that the consequences of “no deal” would be immeasurably more damaging.

Let me explain. Negotiations with the EU were always going to be difficult and nasty. I was cautiously optimistic, however, that shared interests and mutual reasonableness would eventually result in a workable deal, delivering Brexit without a crippling economic cost.